


The First Lady on Earth

by AsterHowl



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-20 08:49:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4781210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsterHowl/pseuds/AsterHowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When President Adar and the First Lady stay on the luxury space cruise ship "Earth", waitress Kara Thrace is surprised at the attention she receives from Laura Adar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Lady on Earth

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a the Make Laura Happy ficathon a few years back. The prompt was "Make Laura happy on Earth". It was always kind of pointless trying to compete against A/R fics but I did win the category "Best showcase of Laura's legs." Considering Laura's legs feature for all of two paragraphs, this always felt like a pathetic and patronizing consolation. Never the less I am still exceedingly proud of this one, so please, enjoy all my defiant gay.

Anyone who didn’t know the Chief would say he had taken extra care this night in presenting the finest, most exquisite dishes ever to be tasted. The few who did know him knew that it was a mistake to say such a thing in front of him. It implied that on other nights he just didn’t bother to meet his exceptionally high standards.

Chief was the most celebrated chef in all of the Twelve Colonies. He couldn’t give a frak if he was feeding the guy who cleaned the toilets or feeding the President himself. Chief never compromised on quality. He had just finished telling this to William Adama, Captain of the luxury cruise ship, Earth.

The kitchen was a frenzy of sizzling, hissing and clanging as plates were set upon the counter to be carried out to the dining room. Kara led the trail as she and the other waiters marched alongside an extravagant table and set down dish after mouth watering dish. She stopped beside President Adar and artfully presented his meal.

“Mr President.”  
He thanked her and she smiled, turning to his wife and with the same flourish of skill, placed her meal lightly in front of her.  
“Ma’am.”

She lingered between them at the corner of the table as the others were handed their first courses, and it gave Kara the time to notice that the First Lady was even more beautiful in person than she was on screen.  
Laura Adar’s eyes were a shade of green seen nowhere else in the universe. But Kara decided it was simply the majesty of her station that had momentarily struck her.

They gathered, after serving the second course, just outside the door to the kitchen because Margaret complained that one of the delegates kept pinching her ass and Kara and Kat knew exactly who she was talking about.  
“Well you see his wife?” Hot Dog narrowed an eye in disgust.  
“They’re all buttugly bastards,” Kat pouted, rubbing her bruised cheek.

Margaret sighed and her gaze drifted longingly across the floor to the dining room doors. “Not the First Lady, though. Gods, she’s gorgeous.”  
Kat rolled her eyes. Hot Dog turned towards the doors.  
“I certainly wouldn’t mind givin’ her a serve of this fine dining experience.” He grabbed his crotch and thrust his pelvis towards the dining room.

Kat punched him on the arm but it only made him grin.  
“I wish she were the one pinchin’ my ass,” Margaret grumbled.  
“Thought you wished that chick at the bar would pinch your ass.” Kara folded her arms. Margaret fell dreamily against the wall. “Ah, Diana.”

Kat looked at her with mock contempt. “You’re frakkin’ pathetic, you know that?”

After their shifts Kara sat with Kat and Margaret at a table in the bar to await the night's performances. Kat huffed and shook her head. Margaret was staring absently at the girl behind the bar.  
“So frakkin’ pathetic,” said Kat.

The crowds were larger tonight. Every table and booth was crammed with people, the barstools all taken and the floor space behind the stalls was packed. As well as the President, Earth was playing host for another celebrity; the newest lounge sensation, D’Anna.

Kara thought the poster advertising her performance tonight was a little over the top. Too much sparkle and cleavage and nothing to do with the music. She was trying not to, but she still felt sorry for Felix, who would be on before her. Felix sang every second night and was Earth’s resident entertainer.

Kara came to every single one of his shows. She had his autograph nearly a hundred times over and always on a pair of panties or a bra and sometimes he signed them while she was still wearing them. He knew it was merely a gesture but he liked to play along. He was all about the music.

“Oh, look who’s here.” Kara nodded behind Kat and Margaret so they would turn around. The table in the middle of the stalls had remained empty, and the President and his wife were making their way towards it. A security detail had stationed themselves at strategic locations about the bar.  
“Holy frak.” Margaret probably referred to the sleek formal black gown Laura Adar was wearing that complimented pearl white skin.

As the couple sat down, Laura’s waves of auburn hair glowed under the light like slow burning cinders. Margaret sighed. “How does a woman like her end up with such a ratfaced guy like Richard Adar?”  
“Career move?” Kat offered.  
“Please. Hot Dog is more intelligent than that smarmy frakrag.”  
Kara snorted. “Smarmy frakrag?”

“Down, girl.” Kat smirked, impressed. She turned to look back at the powerful couple again and shrugged. “Anyway, it’s hard for women in politics. Maybe she thought it was the only way she could keep up.”  
“Maybe he’s just really good in bed.”  
“Ew, Kara.” Margaret covered her eyes. “Why? Why did you have to say that?”

“Yeah, maybe he’s a real animal.” Kat scooted in her chair, leaping on the opportunity to aggravate the girl some more. “He fraks her like a feral beast until she cums and cums shrieking like a banshee.”  
She barely got the last words out because Margaret suddenly smacked her in the mouth and Kat lost half her drink.

“Shit!”  
Kara just laughed. Fortunately for both of them, the shows were about to begin and they settled down to listen to Felix as he sang about love that reached across stars and the mending of broken hearts. He always made Kara smile.

After such relaxing music and soothing voice, the sudden blare of trumpets made everyone in the room jump. A voice announced in exaggerated tones that their next show was guaranteed to get their hearts pounding and blood racing. A spotlight struck the stage and illuminated the voluptuous figure of a tall woman in a gown that flashed like the room was full of press.

After a drum roll, there was silence. Minor tones on piano gently swayed across the floor and D’Anna’s hips rocked. Her voice drifted over the audience like smoke, and a smirk curled at the edge of her vibrant red lips. Her arm and fingers waved and twisted like she was coiling the rope around the neck of some unsuspecting lovesick fool.

“Yikes,” Margaret breathed. It was a fair assessment. D’Anna came prowling forward across the stage, strutting, throwing out her heel to emphasize beats. Her voice was powerful, penetrating. Kara could feel it cracking through her ribcage. As the song dipped into a sharper melody, D’Anna came right up to the edge of the stage and down the steps.

Everyone watched as she came right up to the President’s table and leaned forward so that the man’s nose was almost buried in her cleavage. Kara couldn’t help cringing at the discomfort the First Lady must have been feeling.

“My Gods,” said Margaret when the song was over and D’Anna disappeared in a dramatic cut of the lights.  
“She had her leg over his shoulder. You saw that, right?” Kat looked mortified.  
“Poor Laura,” Margaret sighed, “That was just sickening.”

The woman had endured the encounter with a dignified smile but there had been a stiffness to her eyes that made Kara want to march across the floor and throw D’Anna to the floor by her ridiculously bouncy hair.  
Kat nudged Margaret’s arm. “Quick, go give Laura a lapdance so she doesn’t feel left out.”  
Margaret clung to the back of her chair and squeaked.  
“Wow.” Hot Dog had found them. His features were slack. “That was hot. She is hot.”  
All he received were glares of contempt. He didn’t notice.

“You girls wanna lose all your tips to me in game of cards?” He grinned.  
After winning most of Hot Dog’s cubits, Kara celebrated by herself at the bar. Margaret had no interest in the bar when Diana’s shift had ended and went back to her room. Kat had gone off with the card dealer and Hot Dog had left miserable and defeated.

“Interesting show tonight.” Lee smiled at her as he cleaned glasses. Kara ran her finger around the rim of her glass and smiled back at him.  
“I’m still searching for the right word,” she said.  
“I think it might be ‘dazzling.”

Kara felt breath catch unexpectedly at the back of her throat and struggled not to cough. Laura Adar had slipped silently onto the next stool down from her. She tossed her hair as she settled her hands on the counter and smiled at Lee.  
“What can I get you?” he asked.  
“Well I would like to have something heavy but I fear it would be inappropriate for the First Lady to cause a drunken scene.”

Her eyes sparkled playfully and Kara was just staring. She quickly looked away when it appeared Laura was about to look at her. Lee was pouring something as Kara sat tensely, focusing on her breathing and praying that no one could hear how hard her heart was beating.

“Go wild,” Lee said, handing the woman a glass, “You deserve it. I’ll make sure you don’t cause a scene.”  
“Thank you,” she spotted his name tag, “Lee.”  
“Don’t mention it.”

Lee had always been charming and confident but Kara was still amazed at the ease with which he could flirt with Laura Adar. She was the First Lady for frak sake, a married woman, though she supposed that didn’t really make a difference to someone like Lee.

He was more than a treat for the eyes, he was a buffet for the senses and he damn well knew it. He’d known it when he’d asked Kara out back when she first started working on Earth and he knew it even when she broke up with him. It didn’t mean he wasn’t a nice guy. He just couldn’t help being nice to other girls when he was supposed to be with her.

Still, if Lee hadn’t cheated on her first, Kara would have done the same to him. They were just those sorts of people and in that they had formed a close and enduring friendship.

“Shame Felix is gay,” Lee said as Laura sipped gratefully from her drink, “Or I’m sure he would have been all over you.”  
Laura chuckled. “Much as I appreciate you saying so I hardly think my husband would be threatened by a guy like Felix Gaeta.”  
“You should see him with his pants off.”

Laura turned to the voice at the edge of the bar. A young man sat stirring the ice in his glass. A smug smirk twisted on his lips as he glanced up at a very shocked Laura who was only to look more astonished when Felix came up to him and the man put his arm around the singer’s back.

“Mrs Adar. Pleasure to meet you,” Felix said brightly.  
Laura stammered for a moment because the way the other man’s hand was caressing Felix’s chest was very distracting.  
“You too,” she said, now smiling in amusement.

Felix looked down at his friend. “Ready to go?”  
The man eased off the bar stool and hugged Felix close so their hips pressed tightly together. “I am.”  
Felix hummed in delight and anticipation and then smiled at Laura again. “It was nice meeting you.”

The two men left in each other’s embrace.  
Laura turned to Lee in surprise. “Wasn’t that Dr Gaius Baltar?”  
Lee was still watching the happy couple leaving the bar as he tossed his cleaning rag over his shoulder. Putting his hands on his hips he said,  
“Yes it was.”

Kara was still overwhelmed. It occurred to her that she had just been sitting there unmoving in an unnatural manner and wondered why her hand wouldn’t pick up her drink. She had to be convincingly calm somehow. Drinking was the way to go. It just wasn’t happening.

An irrationally bright voice called from the other edge of the bar. The three of them looked up to see D’Anna signaling Lee for attention. Lee excused himself and went to serve the lounge sensation. Now that Kara had moved she couldn’t turn her head back. She was transfixed and she blamed D’Anna’s stupidly sparkling dress and later, the way that she was giggling and leaning and trying her wiles on Lee.

“That woman really has no shame.” Laura sounded oddly impressed but Kara couldn’t think of how to respond. She was hoping that Laura wouldn’t notice that she was pretending she hadn’t heard her, but all she was doing was more not moving.

D’Anna left and when Lee returned he gave a sigh as though he’d stepped out of a cold shower.  
“Hmm. I think she likes you,” Laura teased.  
Lee huffed. “Not really my type.”  
Kara scoffed, or at least she intended to.  
“Oh? And what would your type be?” Laura asked, touching the frame of her glasses to sit them more comfortably on the bridge of her nose.

Lee began putting glasses away but he kept eye contact with Laura. “Well she’s elegant, graceful, holds herself with dignity and refinement.”  
A grin grew on Laura’s face. “She sounds awfully dull.”  
Out of the corner of her eyes Kara watched Lee lean against the back of the counter and he dropped his voice.  
“Oh she has a wild side. Subtle. You won’t know what she’s up to until you feel that first intoxicating thrill.”

Laura’s grin broadened appreciatively. “Really?”  
Lee was even closer. “See she’s enchanting. She looks at you and you’re enthralled and then…well then you’re at her mercy.”  
The First Lady curled her fingers around her glass and lifted the rim to her lips. She made sure Lee was watching as she tilted the glass and took the liquid into her mouth.

Kara couldn’t be sure but it looked as though Lee had swallowed.  
“Does such a woman exist?” Laura asked.  
Lee smiled, holding her gaze in a way that Kara had seen melt so many. “I’m sure she does. Somewhere.”

Laura chuckled. “What do you think?”  
Even though she knew the question was directed at her, Kara contemplated ignoring it. It was hard to do when she was actually looking at the woman and it startled her because she had no idea how she came to be doing so. “Huh? I mean, pardon?”  
Kara’s chest throbbed as Laura leaned a little toward her.  
“Do you think Lee’s perfect woman exists?”

Her eyes were deep as the space Earth gracefully traversed. Kara knew that she could search them a thousand lifetimes and keep discovering.  
“I’m certain of it.”

The next night Kara found Margaret begging Kat to let her serve Laura and Richard’s table. Kat put a hand on her hip. “Why? You actually gonna give her that lapdance?”  
Hot Dog was suddenly interested. Margaret just begged some more.  
“Just give her the table, Kat,” Kara said, fixing her nametag on her vest, “Or she’ll be shitty all night.”

“Fine. Go nuts.”  
Margaret bounced. Hot Dog turned after her as she practically skipped off to the floor. “I’ll give you all my tips tonight if you do that lapdance thing!”  
Kat patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. “Not gonna happen. And besides, you practically give away your tips to us every night at triad.’

Hot Dog glared at her as she walked off to take the floor and Kara gave him an encouraging smile.  
“You really gotta work on your game face,” she offered.  
Hot Dog glared at her unappreciatively as he, too, stalked out to the floor.

Felix and Gaius ate together at the restaurant almost every night. Kara loved to serve them because she could bitch about other customers and they were good at bitching with her.

“Here you are, boys.” Kara set their main meals on their table. “Swimming in gravy, just the way you like.”  
Gaius smirked. “I bet it kills Chief when people request such modifications to his carefully balanced dishes.”  
“I think he cries a little bit.” Kara grinned.

“Gravy is especially salty tonight,” Felix said, after taking a mouthful of lamb.  
She playfully punched his shoulder and told them she would be back later. She would have preferred later to be sooner but she had other tables to tend and customers were being difficult. Kara recognized most of them were Delegates.

The boys had long finished their meal by the time she was able to get back to them. “Sometimes I really hate this job. Why did I have to serve ass-pincher?”  
Gaius quirked an eyebrow. “That’s an unfortunate name.”  
Felix snorted.  
“Picon Delegate,” Kara explained.

Gaius eased back in his chair. There was something calculating about the twist to his lips. Kara was suspicious. “What?”  
“It’s just something Felix and I have noticed.”  
“And what’s that?” Kara asked cautiously.

Gaius was smug, clearly expecting his revelation to impress or somehow astound her. His tone was low and he spoke confidentially.  
“Laura Adar has been watching you.”  
Kara had to laugh. But she had laughed even before she had decided that it was a joke, and she couldn’t sustain it. She frowned quickly.  
“You’re kidding, right?”

Felix shook his head. “Oh we don’t kid about that sort of thing.”  
Gaius’s smirk lifted into his eyes, making them glitter. “If you don’t believe us get one of your friends to watch her the next time you take the floor.”  
“You guys really have nothing better to do.” Kara smirked and then took their desert orders.

After piling their plates onto her arm she took them back to the kitchens and found Kat. “This is going to sound ridiculous. They’re probably just having me on, you know, joking around as they do, gay humour and all that.”  
“The frak you on about Starbuck?”  
“Okay,” she sighed and brushed her hair, shaking her arms as if preparing for a race. “Gaius and Felix reckon the First Lady is…you know…” she frowned hoping Kat understood. She didn’t.

Kara grimaced nervously. “…Watching me.”  
“Watching you?”  
“Watching me.”  
Kat’s brows shot up. “Watching you.”  
Kara’s expression didn’t change.  
Kat grinned. “Well, damn. When do you go out there again?”

Kara pressed her fingertips together anxiously. “I’m about to take drink orders for table five.”  
“Oh, that’s no good. That puts you behind her. You’re on table eleven, too, right? What do they need?”  
“Nothing.”  
“Okay, take the drink orders and then go ask eleven if everything is okay with their meal.”  
“Right. Okay.”

Kara turned but couldn’t move. Kat had to give her a shove. Walking the floor, Kara found herself avoiding eye contact with everyone, which was absurd, because it wasn’t like the boys thought everyone was watching her.

When she returned to the kitchens Kat was giggling.  
“Well?” Kara demanded. The girl was just snorting and shaking her head, delighting, perhaps, at the look on Kara’s face.  
“Desert’s up for table fifteen.” The announcement came right next to her and made her jump. Kat practically slapped the bowls into her hands and pushed her to the door.

“Go again! Margaret has to see this!”  
Kara stumbled through the swinging door and quickly steadied herself, hoping no one had noticed. If the boys were right, then Laura might have. She went to their table and distractedly placed their deserts in front of them.  
“She’s watching you now,” Gaius said, loving the spectacle, and grinning as Felix swapped their plates, correcting Kara’s error. “And so are your friends.”

When Kara looked she saw Kat and Margaret peering at her from behind the window on the kitchen door. Something landed by her feet. Kara looked down and saw a spoon. When she glared up at Gaius he was pouting and she grit her teeth incredulously.  
“Oh go on, dear. Poor woman deserves a treat.”

Kara narrowed her eyes and Gaius looked victorious at the smirk that she struggled to suppress.  
“Quick,” he said, “Go now.”  
One foot crossing the other, Kara slowly bent at the hip and reached down to the silver spoon on the carpet by the man’s feet.  
“Oh bless her.” He spoke so only she could hear. “She’s leaning out to see you better.”

Kara stood up and placed the spoon delicately in the desert bowl.  
He fixed her with a sly smile. “She definitely wishes you were on the menu.”

It was a far cry from Margaret’s reaction.  
“I hate you.” She was hunched in her seat, pouting angrily. Seated around their usual table at the bar, Kat was grinning and stirring the ice in her drink. “Nothin’ gets past those boys.”

“What a frakking waste,” Margaret huffed, folding her arms. “Kara’s not even gay.”  
“Aren’t I?”  
“Oh, don’t even.” Margaret looked devastated. “I flirted with you for months.”

Kat tilted her head sympathetically. She pretended to pick something off her lap. “Hey, what’s this? Aww, look. It’s a piece of Margaret’s shattered confidence.”  
Kara laughed and Margaret punched Kat’s arm.  
“I hate you,” she grumbled. “Both of you.”

Kara was giggling as she noticed Diana coming to start her shift at the bar. “Hey check it out.”  
“What?” Kat looked.  
“The bar.”  
“Laura?”  
“No.”  
Kat and Margaret both turned towards the bar. Margaret turned away quickly again. “Frak.”  
Kat shook her head. “You’re so frakkin’ hopeless.”  
  
“She’s so frakkin’ pretty.” Margaret sighed.  
Kat cocked her head. “Eh. I don’t see it.”  
“Of course you don’t. She isn’t covered in penises.”  
Kat cackled with laughter. “Well, anything less than twelve and I’m not interested.”

Kara laughed. “So how many did your last boyfriend have?”  
“Oh, thirty. Easy.”  
“Wow! That’s impressive. Hot Dog certainly does a good job hiding them all.”  
She knew it was a joke but she pretended to be insulted.

Margaret was ignoring them. “I want to lick her neck.”  
“So go over there,” Kat said. “Well, don’t lick her neck straight away. I’m fairly sure drinks or a dinner comes first. Not really sure with girls. Maybe that’s how you roll.”

“Go get us drinks,” Kara suggested.  
After some hesitation, and more torment from Kat, Margaret mustered some courage from somewhere and went up to the bar. Kara noticed Kat watching her critically.  
“If she comes to the restaurant tomorrow night, you should serve her.”  
“Diana?”  
Kat made a face and Kara smiled and fiddled with the napkin that came with her drink.  
“Not like anything’s gonna happen,” she said.

“Whoa. Wait a minute.” Kat leaned forward. “That sounded like disappointment. Looks a lot like it too.”  
Kara shrugged.  
“Starbuck?” Kat urged.

The woman sighed. She was lost in deep velvet waves, rare and delicate features and eyes as moving as symphonies.  
“She is really beautiful.”  
For a time Kat gave the moment the silence it deserved. Then she said,  
“Damn, Starbuck.”

“Whatever. Not gonna happen. Looks like Margaret’s having some luck, though.”  
Diana was laughing behind the bar.  
“You can see the girl blushing from here,” Kara smiled.  
“Who’s blushing?” Lee had stepped up beside her chair. He had probably come to ask them if they wanted to play cards.

“Diana.” Kara nodded at the bar. Lee turned to look. He folded his arms and laughed in amusement.  
“Your friend has just made this the greatest night of her life.”  
“What do you mean?” Kara asked.  
“She’s all Diana talks about.”

Kara was with the boys when Laura walked into the restaurant. She was accompanied not by her husband but by a young man with curly hair who appeared very much like a tall boy in a suit who Felix and Gaius agreed looked delicious.  
“Oh, tell me you’re going to serve her table tonight,” the singer said.  
“Not up to me.”

“Look at the longing in her eyes. Oh. It’s killing me.” Felix dramatically grabbed his heart. Pouting, Gaius reached to hold his hand over his lover’s.  
“Please, Kara. I can’t lose Felix.”  
Kara laughed. They frequently made her night. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Gaius told her to hurry and then kissed Felix’s hand. Hot Dog took some persuading to give up Mrs Adar’s table. The woman had tipped Margaret so generously the night previous and Hot Dog expected the same.  
“If you had tits maybe,” Kat said, eyeing him critically.  
“And unfortunately for you, you only have penises,” Margaret added, folding her arms and giving him a look of disgust.

Hot Dog’s brow contorted.  
“Penises? What?”  
“Thirty of them,” Kara nodded. Hot Dog looked at her with his features twisted in confusion.  
“Trust me,” said Kat, waving her hands to get his attention again. “She’s gonna tip Starbuck a thousand times more than she’ll ever tip you.”

Hot Dog looked down at Kat but he appeared to think she was still talking in another language. Before he could protest Kara agreed.  
“And I’ll split it with you. I’ll split it with the three of you. You can even have my share.”  
“Done.” Hot Dog understood that.

Kara nearly dashed through the kitchen door. She had to pace herself.  
“Good evening, Ma’am, Sir,” Kara said, as she arrived at Laura’s table. She hoped she wasn’t smiling to an absurd degree, but the way Laura looked up at her, the way she saw her eyes shine, it felt like her heart had sprouted wings and was energetically beating them against her lungs.

“My name is Kara and I’ll be your waiter.” She never usually said so, but she felt giddily histrionic.  
“Well, Kara, this is Billy, I’m Laura and I guess we’ll be your customers.” The woman could certainly rise to the occasion.  
“And I’m gonna take good care of you.” Kara smiled.

She flipped open her notepad and asked for their drink orders. Billy gave his straight away but Laura draped herself back in her chair and let an elegant finger stroke the list. When she crossed her legs, the toe of her shoe grazed the leg of Kara’s pants just enough that she felt the fabric bend slightly under her knee and she found herself gaping down at the way the older woman’s maroon suit skirt tightly hugged her thighs.

Order taken, she returned to the kitchens where Kat informed her that Laura and her personal aide had burst into giggles the moment she was out of range.

“It’s a conspiracy,” she said, eager and impressed.  
“You think she told the kid about…me?”  
“Way I see it, woman’s obviously dissatisfied with her marriage. The kid’s got to have tried to comfort her somewhere along the line. And who could crush a guy with a face like that?” Kat was peering through the window again. “She says, ‘Kid, you’re very sweet, but actually, I’m very gay.”

Kara stuck her tongue against the inside of her cheek and considered her scenario. “That’s actually some very impressive insight.”  
Kat turned to shrug at her. “I occasionally spout nuggets of truth. Now go serve their drinks.”

Kara gave Billy his drink first but when she went to set Laura’s on the table the woman reached up to take it from her hand instead. Kara hoped she hadn’t really made the high pitched whimpering noise she had heard the instant Laura’s fingers brushed her own. She cleared her throat casually, just in case, and prepared to take their main orders.

“Maybe you can recommend something for us.”  
Maybe Kat was right. The quirk in Billy’s brow was too telling.  
“It’s all very good,” Kara insisted, battling the discomfort the kid was making her feel.  
“Then we’ll enjoy anything you pick.” Laura’s eyes were impossibly rich with mischief.  
Billy folded up his menu. “Why don’t you surprise us.”

Now Kara hoped the scream had only been in her head.  
“That’s rather brave of you,” she said.  
“We live on the edge.” Laura smirked. “And you did say you would take good care of us. We trust you.”

Couldn’t argue with that. “Two mystery dinners it is.”  
Kat had to try and calm her down when she came bursting through the kitchen door and broke into a panic.  
“Did she ask for a lapdance?”  
Kara glared at her unappreciatively. “No! She asked me to surprise her.”

“Lapdance would be pretty surprising,” Margaret observed as she passed them.  
“What is your obsession with lapdancing?” Kara was practically pulling her hair out.  
“Okay, relax. Go ask Chief. He’ll have an idea.”  
Kat led Kara through the steam and clamour of the kitchens and they found Chief advising one of his cooks.

“Everything on the menu is exquisite,” he insisted, even before Kara had finished the question.  
“It’s for the First Lady.” Kara didn’t know why she bothered. Chief wouldn’t—  
“—give a frak.”  
Kat had to stop him from pushing past them and the man looked down at her hands on his chest as though they would leave marks on his precious white uniform. She gingerly removed them but stood her ground.

“Come on, Chief. If you were really trying to impress someone, say they were someone special, what would you cook for her?”  
Chief leered from Kat to Kara. The unyielding desperation in Kara’s eyes made his anger fade. He stood back, folded his arms and puffed in amusement. “First Lady special to you, Starbuck?”

Every fibre and nerve in her body trembled on the edge of the answer. Chief smiled gently.  
“Thought this was just some game you Vests were playing.” He walked past her and clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Leave it to me.”  
“Wait,” Kat called after him. “Game?”  
“You Vests talk loud,” he said over his shoulder.

Kara felt relieved to be standing at the boys’ table, giving them their desert orders. Chief had prepared meals that must have been made of ingredients from the Elysian Fields because Laura had barely passed the first mouthful through her lips and she had moaned fervidly. Kara had stood there for Gods knew how long before she gesticulated clumsily, stammered awkwardly, and hurried from the table.

“She’s much happier without Richard around.” Felix stated it not as fact, not as truth, not even as an observation. He just knew it, and when he had said it, Kara knew it too.  
“So you’re coming to the show tonight, right?” he asked.  
“You know I never miss your shows, Felix.”

He sang about finding love in unlikely places and made her heart dance. Margaret had left with Diana the moment her shift had ended, but not before introducing the girl, making out in front of them, and deliberately doing so in a position that had the bar chick’s ass practically nudging against Kat’s head.

It was later announced that D’Anna’s show had been cancelled and Kat was eager to vent her sex-envy with a game of triad. After winning back Kat’s share of Laura’s tip, Kara sat alone at the back counter of the bar because Kat had decided she would have more fun frakking Hot Dog.

She was there long after the live music packed up and generic lounge music crackled over the wireless tucked between bottles on the barshelf.  
“What can I getcha?”  
“Hmm. Something…”

Kara recognized the voice of the woman Lee was talking to but could not see her. The barshelf was in the way. Kara leaned a little over just to confirm and ducked away again when she caught a glimpse of her unmistakable hair.  
“Something very, very bad for me.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”  
He didn’t ask why. He didn’t ask if she had a rough night. Lee simply mixed her drink and left her alone. He came round the counter to ask Kara if she needed a top off.  
“Is that the First Lady?” Kara whispered.  
Lee leaned close to hear her. “Yeah. Doesn’t look too good either.”

Her heart began thudding. “Could you go find out why?”  
Lee huffed. “Why?”  
“Just ask her.”

“She’s the First Lady.”  
“Didn’t stop you flirting with her the other night.”  
“There’s a difference between harmless flirting and the invasion of privacy.”

“Fine,” Kara grumbled. She thought for a moment. “Tell her the drink’s on me.”  
She managed to slip away without being seen by Laura. She got to her room, leant back against her door and just stood there breathing, eyes closed, skin cold and brimming. She was in her bathroom, splashing her face with water when the phone rang.

It was Lee.  
“The First Lady wants you to come back to the bar.”  
“What? Why?” Kara’s voice might not have actually worked.  
“Says she wants to thank you for the drink…In person.” Kara couldn’t be sure, but she thought she had heard someone else’s voice in the background.

“She’s insisting,” Lee continued in the absence of a response, “I would get down here. She has this look about her like she would kill the messenger and I don’t want to tell her you can’t come down.”  
Kara stammered. “Okay. I’ll be right there.”

She quickly changed out of her work clothes and into something more casual.

When she got back to the bar Laura was nowhere to be seen.  
“I let her into the Private Cove.”  
There were a number of curtained off coves around the back wall of the bar. Only one was barricaded by a rope on which hung a sign indicating that the use of this cove would only be granted to those first approved by the Captain. Lee began stacking glasses. “This is officially the weirdest thing I’ve ever been a part of.”

Kara felt her breath quivering as she stepped over the rope and stood at the long black curtain. Tucking her doubts away, she pulled it back and stepped inside.  
Laura, dressed in the maroon dress suit she had worn to dinner with Billy, sniffed in surprise.

Kara noticed immediately the glimmer to her eyes and lashes behind her glasses. It was obvious she had hastily tried to hide the fact she had been crying. Kara wasn’t going to mention it.  
“Kara.” Laura braved a smile but it refused to hold. “I apologize for dragging you down here. You must be tired after your shift.”  
Kara stuck her thumbs in her pockets. “I’m good,” then she asked, “You okay?”

Laura just scoffed. “I went back to my room after dinner to discover my husband, the President, in bed with that D’Anna woman.”  
Kara shrugged. “They deserve each other.”  
Laura chuckled, appreciating that Kara didn’t automatically respond with the superficial sympathy she expected.

“It’s not like I really loved him. I can’t say he’s entirely to blame.”  
Kara sat down next to her on the seats that curved the wall, keeping a comfortable distance between them. “You must have had feelings for him at one stage.”  
Laura was silent for a moment, then cringed as if it hurt her to acknowledge such a truth.

“Did he love you?” Kara asked.  
Laura shrugged sadly. “I thought he did. Once.”  
“If you thought he loved you, he must have shown you in some way.”  
Laura winced and looked down at her hands. “You think I didn’t show him enough love?”  
Kara edged closer, calmly saying, “No. I don’t think that at all.”

Laura touched her finger gently to the corner of her eye under the frame of her glasses, perhaps to stop a threatening tear. “What do you think?”  
“Honestly?”  
“Brutally.”

She was endearing. Kara smiled. “Honestly, I think you were a threat to his career. You were climbing the ranks as fast as he was. He married you to distract you, and while you devoted your energy to the relationship, he devoted his to furthering his career.”

Unprepared for that insight, Laura looked up at her and as she came to realize her words were more or less accurate, Kara could see the relief in her eyes that someone had so cleanly made sense of her empty marriage.  
Kara went on. “I think he’s a ruthless, heartless bastard who stole your life and then tossed it away like it was worth nothing.”

The ease of Kara’s clarity made Laura’s words whispered. “How can you know all that?”  
“I don’t.”  
Laura huffed quietly. Kara leaned close.  
“All I know is, you deserve to be loved. Truly and deeply.”

An amorous sigh trembled from Laura’s lips. Kara reached for her cheek and the woman looked so impossibly hopeful it made her chest tighten.  
“You are enchanting, Laura.”  
The First Lady made the smallest noise of joy and tears slid freely down her cheeks, catching in Kara’s hand.

Kara carefully stroked her hair, her fingers trailing along her jaw so she was holding her face. Laura whined when their lips touched. It was soft, gentle and warm. Kara pulled away to see her face, to gaze into her eyes and discover incredible things. She didn’t need to know how Laura felt. She could see it.

She took her lips again, tenderly, and felt Laura’s hands brush into her hair. Gently, Kara began to push her down and Laura fretted against her mouth, clinging to her anxiously until she was settled carefully on her back and Kara could gaze adoringly over her, tracing the edges of her face with a lone fingertip.

“I…”  
Kara hushed her as she carefully removed her glasses and set them on the table. She didn’t need to know her fears, her doubts. Stroking her face, her other hand dipped between firm, silken thighs. Laura’s head went back slightly and a gasp rolled from her lips and over her neck.

Kara’s fingers groped tightly at the very top of the woman’s inner thigh, making Laura grunt in surprise. She hummed as she exhaled, the only method of calming herself she had left.  
Kara leaned lower over her, her hand still kneading her thigh in the same way. Laura was averting her gaze, swallowing nervously. It was clear just how long it had been for her.

“Laura.” Her voice was calm. “Laura.” Her hand was still kneading, clutching.  
“Mm?” Laura’s breath was quick, passing through her nose. Kara could almost hear her heart racing.

She touched her brow gently with her thumb. “Calm down.”

Laura made some noise, touched by uncertainty. The sounds of machines from the casino still chimed and twinkled and the occasional shout came from the bar and voices seemed to come from just behind the thick black curtain.  
“It’s okay.”  
Laura almost smiled but glanced nervously towards the curtain instead.

Kara adjusted herself, sliding up onto her knees so Laura’s leg was between them, her other still bent to the floor. Kara’s fingers lingered in the woman’s hair, and she rubbed her hand in deep strokes up and down her thigh, groping her flesh every now and then, making her moan softly and sharply every time.

She thought of reassuring her that no one would hear them, that no one would suddenly walk in on them. She decided Laura could do with the added thrill. She leaned down even lower until her nose touched her hair and her lips were almost against her ear. She whispered. “You can tell me to stop.”  
Another noise, firmer, but only slightly, and she shook her head stiffly, defiantly. A whisper.  
“Don’t stop.”

Kara smiled and kissed her brow before arching back. She smoothed her hand down her face, trailing her fingers over her chin, under her jaw. They brushed down the length of her throat, pressing just enough to feel the muscles contract as she anxiously swallowed again.

Her journey continued down into the neck of her suit jacket, over her chest, and by this time her other hand was clawing against the silk fabric of her stockings. It was a distraction until Kara found the skirt zipper on her hip and began to pull it down. Laura’s hand snapped over hers.

Her eyes had frozen, set on the horror that she might have made a mistake and jeopardized the moment. She might have disappointed Kara or made her frustrated enough that she would leave.

She simply was not used to this kind of treatment. To furtive encounters with a women she barely knew who made her feel so sexy and beautiful and deserving of that look. Like she really was deeply and truly loved.

Kara took Laura’s hand in hers and lifted it to her mouth to kiss her fingers. The relief made Laura smile broadly and choke on a laugh. Kara guided her hand down, bringing it over her body so her arm was bent and her hand would rest on the seat cushion just above her head.

For a moment Kara felt she could fall into Laura’s eyes. Then she was sinking down her body and Laura was trembling in anticipation. She slipped her hands around her hips and tucked her fingers into skirt and stockings and pulled, lifting the woman’s hips up off the seat to get them down.

As the skin of her thighs was slowly revealed, Kara trailed kisses all the way to her knee where she circled her tongue and sucked sensitive flesh. Laura searched the ceiling for something to focus on, but the dim mood lights were disorienting. She settled for closing her eyes and suddenly Kara was lifting up one of her legs and setting it up along the back of the seats, tucking it in place.

She pushed at her other thigh with both hands and Laura awkwardly shuffled her heel along the floor obligingly. Fingers slipped and pulled aside very damp panties and Kara released hot breath against her.

“Oh Gods,” Laura whimpered. Then she was gritting her teeth, jaw tense, and arching her neck. The hand above her head clenched into a fist, nails piercing skin, and the other gripped into the back of the seat at her side, desperate for anchorage.

Kara peered along her body and smiled, delighting at her responses. She kept her gasping and moaning and writhing for swells of time, simply licking and kissing and enjoying the taste and indulging in her scent. Chief might try, but he would never cook a meal as good as this.

Something smacked the back of her head. Nails clawed savagely into her scalp, near tearing her skin in urgency. Kara held pace, alternating between licking and biting the tender flesh of her inner thighs and blowing sustained breaths to make Laura feel everything at once.

“Ah..ahhh…”  
She was so hot inside. Her fingers were burning but she pressed in deep and she winced as the nails in her hair broke skin. She didn’t stop, though. She turned her wrist, twisting her fingers as deep as they could go. She slowly drilled and pumped, wanting to be firm but careful and Laura was writhing and heaving.

She brought her steadily to a steep edge. She wouldn’t push her over, send her plummeting and flailing for catch. She would hold her hand and they would step together, and she would guide her safely down, drifting, savouring the exhilaration until she landed gently and Kara would be there, hovering over her, holding a hand to her face and loving her.

“Hey.” Kara waited for her to catch her breath and open her eyes. She smiled when she did. “How’re you feeling?”  
Laura lay there, smiling contentedly, eyes twinkling. She shifted her body a little and relaxed her hands, feeling her fingers into her hair.  
“Good.”

Kara knelt back and turned her attention to the leg that was still draped across the back of the seats. She made a ridiculous expression that alerted Laura to the very undignified state she was in and it made her laugh and cover her face with her hands. Kara grinned too because at the time it hadn’t seemed so outrageous.

“Thank you,” Laura said.  
“For what?”

“This.”  
“For being your booty call?”  
Laura laughed and then sighed, reaching up to touch Kara’s face. “For finding my life.”  
Her words burned into her heart and left her near breathless.

Laura smirked, biting her lip to contain the affection bubbling inside her. Kara found herself simply enthralled by her gaze. Earth continued its journey through the stars and Kara was making the first of a lifetime of discoveries.


End file.
